It’s not a surprise the highest amount of games was in the first year post lockout with the player adjusting to the NHL. Until the double digit point, it looked like the NHL was going to eclipse that mark.

DATE

TEAM

OPP

SCORERS

10/7/2011

LAK

NYR

11,10,3p

10/8/2011

WSH

CAR

28,25,21p,52p

10/13/2011

WSH

PIT

22,8,6p

10/15/2011

DET

MIN

18,26,93p

10/15/2011

LAK

PHI

14p,14,3p

10/22/2011

VAN

MIN

22p,36,6p

10/29/2011

SJS

NYI

8p,39,88p

11/1/2011

MIN

DET

9,10p

11/8/2011

BUF

WPG

9p,78,29s,26p,9p,26p

11/10/2011

COL

NYI

26p,23,8,27p

11/25/2011

TBL

FLA

4,91p

12/2/2011

PHI

ANA

68p,68p,19,28p

Then, someone got the memo.

Further data breakdown reveals a distinct contrast from the first 22 OT games to the next 22.

On record pace at the time the NHL hit double digits in PP OT winners this season, the contrasting numbers are quite revealing:

In 221 games leading up to Nov 10:

22 games were decided in overtime

10 overtime game winners were via a power play goal (45% of games) – with an even split of 5 at home, 5 on the road

5 of the first 6 overtime games in '11-12 were decided by a power play goal, with the only exception being David Jones OT marker versus Toronto

At Nov 10, 19 penalties had been called in overtime across the league. Los Angeles had one penalty called in OT with another carried over from the third period, while Washington had 3 OT PP opportunities in that same span.

That all changed after November 10.

In 259 games since then - a span of 38 days - there have been 22 overtime games played.

Only two games were decided by a power play goal, both by the road team.

In the first 221 games there were 19 penalties called until Nov 10 producing 10 OT game winners. Since then, up to Dec 18 – only 10 penalty calls in overtime with only 2 game winners

10-Nov

18-Dec

Team

OT PP

OT PP

Change

ANA

0

0

0

BOS

0

1

1

BUF

1

2

1

CAR

2

2

0

CBJ

0

1

1

CGY

0

0

0

CHI

1

1

0

COL

1

1

0

DAL

0

0

0

DET

1

1

0

EDM

0

0

0

FLA

0

0

0

LAK

1

1

0

MIN

2

3

1

MTL

0

1

1

NJD

0

0

0

NSH

0

1

1

NYI

0

1

1

NYR

0

0

0

OTT

0

0

0

PHI

0

2

2

PHX

1

1

0

PIT

1

1

0

SJS

1

1

0

STL

1

1

0

TBL

2

3

1

TOR

0

0

0

VAN

1

1

0

WPG

0

0

0

WSH

3

3

0

The ratio of 10 game-winners on 19 opportunities amounts to 53-percent of the penalty calls ending up as game winners.

Since November 10, only 2 games decided by a power play goal dropped the success rate to 20% which is more on par with a normal power play conversion rate. However, in the 22 overtime games since then, only 9-percent of the games were decided by a power play goal.

More notes:

7 of the 12 total OT games featured a game total of 5 power play opportunities or more for the scoring team

Only once was the OT PP game decider the only penalty called in the game, (Washington winning on 19 shots on goal)

The 34 days it took to get to 10 games to start the season, but that time span is not the absolute least amount of days since the lockout.

There was a 17 day span between Mar 1, 2007 and March 18, 2007 that featured 10 overtime power play game winners. On another occasion that overlapped the span just mentioned, 10 OT games were decided by a PP goal in a span of 22 days between Mar 16, 2007 to April 7, 2007.

Between March 8, 2008 and April 8, 2008 over a span of 29 days, 10 games were decided by an OT PP goal. In the first season after the lockout, the final 10 games decided by an overtime goal were over a 23-day span.

Prior to 2011-12 the breakdown of total OT wins and losses is broken down below

Team

W

L

Total

ANA

6

7

13

ATL

10

7

17

BOS

6

2

8

BUF

11

7

18

CAR

8

8

16

CBJ

5

4

9

CGY

2

5

7

CHI

4

9

13

COL

8

3

11

DAL

4

11

15

DET

6

5

11

EDM

5

10

15

FLA

9

13

22

LAK

6

5

11

MIN

5

3

8

MTL

8

10

18

NJD

8

2

10

NSH

6

4

10

NYI

6

7

13

NYR

5

9

14

OTT

2

3

5

PHI

4

10

14

PHX

6

3

9

PIT

9

8

17

SJS

9

4

13

STL

3

9

12

TBL

8

7

15

TOR

10

10

20

VAN

11

5

16

WSH

8

8

16

It will be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the way.

After all, someone got the memo.

Someone got the memo.

The NHL was on a record pace with 56 overtime games decided by a power play goal by the time the league hit double-digits with 10 games decided by a power play goal in overtime.

It took a post-lockout record of 34 days on November 10.

In the 38 days since hitting that milestone, only two of 22 games were decided by a power play goal in overtime.

Such a drastic change can’t simply be just teams adjusting or the league settling into the season.

With the exception of 2008-09 where it took until December 20th, traditionally since the lockout it took until the first week of December to hit the 10-game mark. The breakdown is below.

05-06 - Dec 3

06-07 - Dec 6

07-08 - Dec 10

08-09 - Dec 20

09-10 - Dec 12

10-11 - Dec 11

The breakdown below highlights post-lockout annual overtime games/games ended on a power play goal:

It’s not a surprise the highest amount of games was in the first year post lockout with the player adjusting to the NHL. Until the double digit point, it looked like the NHL was going to eclipse that mark.

DATE

TEAM

OPP

SCORERS

10/7/2011

LAK

NYR

11,10,3p

10/8/2011

WSH

CAR

28,25,21p,52p

10/13/2011

WSH

PIT

22,8,6p

10/15/2011

DET

MIN

18,26,93p

10/15/2011

LAK

PHI

14p,14,3p

10/22/2011

VAN

MIN

22p,36,6p

10/29/2011

SJS

NYI

8p,39,88p

11/1/2011

MIN

DET

9,10p

11/8/2011

BUF

WPG

9p,78,29s,26p,9p,26p

11/10/2011

COL

NYI

26p,23,8,27p

11/25/2011

TBL

FLA

4,91p

12/2/2011

PHI

ANA

68p,68p,19,28p

Then, someone got the memo.

Further data breakdown reveals a distinct contrast from the first 22 OT games to the next 22.

On record pace at the time the NHL hit double digits in PP OT winners this season, the contrasting numbers are quite revealing:

In 221 games leading up to Nov 10:

22 games were decided in overtime

10 overtime game winners were via a power play goal (45% of games) – with an even split of 5 at home, 5 on the road

5 of the first 6 overtime games in '11-12 were decided by a power play goal, with the only exception being David Jones OT marker versus Toronto

At Nov 10, 19 penalties had been called in overtime across the league. Los Angeles had one penalty called in OT with another carried over from the third period, while Washington had 3 OT PP opportunities in that same span.

That all changed after November 10.

In 259 games since then - a span of 38 days - there have been 22 overtime games played.

Only two games were decided by a power play goal, both by the road team.

In the first 221 games there were 19 penalties called until Nov 10 producing 10 OT game winners. Since then, up to Dec 18 – only 10 penalty calls in overtime with only 2 game winners

10-Nov

18-Dec

Team

OT PP

OT PP

Change

ANA

0

0

0

BOS

0

1

1

BUF

1

2

1

CAR

2

2

0

CBJ

0

1

1

CGY

0

0

0

CHI

1

1

0

COL

1

1

0

DAL

0

0

0

DET

1

1

0

EDM

0

0

0

FLA

0

0

0

LAK

1

1

0

MIN

2

3

1

MTL

0

1

1

NJD

0

0

0

NSH

0

1

1

NYI

0

1

1

NYR

0

0

0

OTT

0

0

0

PHI

0

2

2

PHX

1

1

0

PIT

1

1

0

SJS

1

1

0

STL

1

1

0

TBL

2

3

1

TOR

0

0

0

VAN

1

1

0

WPG

0

0

0

WSH

3

3

0

The ratio of 10 game-winners on 19 opportunities amounts to 53-percent of the penalty calls ending up as game winners.

Since November 10, only 2 games decided by a power play goal dropped the success rate to 20% which is more on par with a normal power play conversion rate. However, in the 22 overtime games since then, only 9-percent of the games were decided by a power play goal.

More notes:

7 of the 12 total OT games featured a game total of 5 power play opportunities or more for the scoring team

Only once was the OT PP game decider the only penalty called in the game, (Washington winning on 19 shots on goal)

The 34 days it took to get to 10 games to start the season, but that time span is not the absolute least amount of days since the lockout.

There was a 17 day span between Mar 1, 2007 and March 18, 2007 that featured 10 overtime power play game winners. On another occasion that overlapped the span just mentioned, 10 OT games were decided by a PP goal in a span of 22 days between Mar 16, 2007 to April 7, 2007.

Between March 8, 2008 and April 8, 2008 over a span of 29 days, 10 games were decided by an OT PP goal. In the first season after the lockout, the final 10 games decided by an overtime goal were over a 23-day span.

Prior to 2011-12 the breakdown of total OT wins and losses is broken down below

Team

W

L

Total

ANA

6

7

13

ATL

10

7

17

BOS

6

2

8

BUF

11

7

18

CAR

8

8

16

CBJ

5

4

9

CGY

2

5

7

CHI

4

9

13

COL

8

3

11

DAL

4

11

15

DET

6

5

11

EDM

5

10

15

FLA

9

13

22

LAK

6

5

11

MIN

5

3

8

MTL

8

10

18

NJD

8

2

10

NSH

6

4

10

NYI

6

7

13

NYR

5

9

14

OTT

2

3

5

PHI

4

10

14

PHX

6

3

9

PIT

9

8

17

SJS

9

4

13

STL

3

9

12

TBL

8

7

15

TOR

10

10

20

VAN

11

5

16

WSH

8

8

16

It will be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the way.

After all, someone got the memo.

Gus Katsaros is the Pro Scouting Coordinator with McKeen’s Hockey, publishers of industry leading scouting and fantasy guide, the McKeen’s Annual Hockey Pool Yearbook. He also contributes to popular blog MapleLeafsHotStove.com ... he can be followed on Twitter @KatsHockeyEmail :Gus Katsaros